Mission Report
by The Evil Author
Summary: A Horde scouting mission to the 2002 series' Eternia goes awry. Guess who was leading the mission?


Title: Mission Report  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
Archive: Anywhere and everywhere. Just tell me if you do.  
Spoilers: Anything goes, but my cable doesn't actually  
carry the Cartoon Network so I'll have to rely on the  
Internet for continuity info.  
Summary: A Horde scouting mission to the 2002 series'  
Eternia goes awry. Guess who was leading the mission?  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their  
owners who I'm too lazy to bother looking up.  
  
  
"Report!"  
  
A young human woman marched into the room. She was in her  
mid-teens perhaps, dressed in the red and white uniform  
of a Horde officer. Neither her movements nor posture  
gave any sense of what she was feeling. Her piercing blue  
eyes were unreadable, her face a mask of professionalism.  
Only her unruly not-long/not-short blonde hair and the  
sword in the ill-fitting sheathe at her side marred the  
image of the perfect officer.  
  
She came before the board, stood at attention, and gave a  
perfect salute.  
  
"Lieutenant Adora, reporting as ordered, SIR!" she barked  
crisply to her superiors.  
  
For an eternally long moment, they studied the young  
officer standing before them as if frozen in mid-salute,  
left hand on the hilt of her sword, right hand at her  
brow. Professional. Meanwhile, Adora studied them right  
back.  
  
Three figures - all superior officers - sat in front of  
her behind an expansive table on a raised dais. They  
looked, Adora thought, very much like a court martial  
board.  
  
In the center was Hordak, general, conquerer, and  
governer of the entire Etheria sector. Not only was he  
actually a member of the Horde's founding species, he was  
brother to the ruler of the entire Horde.  
  
On Hordak's right, Adora's left, was General Sunder. The  
General was Hordak's right hand man, a human to boot, and  
did the actual running of day to day military operations.  
Rumor had it that Sunder was the real brains of Hordak's  
branch of the Horde, but no one uttered that around  
either man.  
  
On Hordak's other side was the mysterious Shadow Weaver.  
She was Hordak's foremost mage. Ordinarily, she wouldn't  
involve herself in military matters, but Adora's recent  
mission piqued her interest.  
  
"At ease, Lieutenant," Hordak finally replied, returning  
Adora's salute.  
  
Adora lowered her arm and obeyed. She assumed the pose of  
"at ease" just as stiff as her "attention": left hand  
remaining on her sword hilt, right hand behind her back,  
and feet set about shoulder width apart. She might have  
been at parade rest except that she was now free to look  
at the person speaking to her.  
  
"Now, I believe you know all of us, Lieutenant," Hordak  
continued, "so we will dispense with intrductions. Do you  
know why you are here?"  
  
"Sir! I am here to be debriefed on my scouting mission to  
the planet Eternia, Sir!" Adora barked in reply.  
  
"Yes, Lieutenant, and we are here to debrief you," Hordak  
agreed. "This is not, however, a court martial, so please  
lower your voice."  
  
"Sir! Yes, Sir!" Adora replied, her volume not lowered at  
all. Professional as always.  
  
General Sunder developed a coughing fit. "It's nothing,"  
he said at Hordak's annoyed glance. But the corners of  
his lips twitched, belying his words. Hordak seemed to  
decide to let it pass.  
  
"Now, Lieutenant, we have all read your written report,"  
Hordak continued, "and we have some questions. But before  
we ask them, tell us in your own words what happened.  
Start with your arrival on Eternia."  
  
There was a brief pause as Adora ordered her thoughts.  
"Sir," she began slowly, the volume of her voice finally  
at something less than a shout but still no less formal.  
"After going through the portal, my platoon and I were  
immediately met by out local contact. We had arrived  
right outside his headquarters as planned. At the  
contact's request, I left the platoon outside to set up  
camp while I and two guards entered his headquarters to  
formally introduce myself..."  
  
***  
  
"YOU are the Horde's representative?" Adora's contact  
asked, his voice dripping with scorn and disbelief.  
  
"Yes," Adora confirmed, nodding curtly. "I am. My rank  
and name are..."  
  
"Bah!" the man interupted. "What does Hordak take me for?  
Sending me toy soldiers commanded by children? I am a  
conquerer, not a... a babysitter!"  
  
"Sir, I am an officer of the Horde," Adora told him  
coldly. "I will not be belittled or mocked. I was sent  
because my superiors were convinced that I am fully  
capable of completing my mission." She decided it would  
be undiplomatic to also call him a "petty, local despot",  
not to mention unprofessional.  
  
"Oh, really?," the man sneered. "And how many 'missions'  
have you completed, little girl? The truth now!"  
  
"None," Adora admitted uncomfortably, but honesty  
compelled truth. This man was an ally of the Horde after  
all.  
  
"And how many missions failed?" he pressed.  
  
"None," Adora repeated.  
  
Adora's contact paused, processing this unexpected bit of  
information. "Wait a moment," he said slowly. "This is  
your first mission?" His voice rose in fury. "HOW LONG  
HAVE YOU BEEN AN OFFICER?"  
  
"These," she indicated the butter brown lieutenant  
stripes on her shoulders, "were pinned on last week."  
  
"A WEEK?" came the shrieked reply.  
  
"Five days ago actually," Adora said quietly. Then she  
rallied herself and raised her head pridefully. "And  
whether or not you think me fit for command is no concern  
of mine. I am a representative of the Horde and you will  
treat me as such, Kelidor!"  
  
"Skeletor!" the man corrected angrily. "Kelidor is dead!  
I am Skeletor now!"  
  
***  
  
"Skeletor?" Shadow Weaver interupted, speaking for the  
first time. "Why the name change? Your report didn't  
say."  
  
"Ma'am, Skeletor had apparently suffered some mishap that  
reduced his face to a bare skull," Adora answered. "Given  
the already strained atmosphere I was operating in, I  
judged it unwise to ask for the details."  
  
"I see," Shadow Weaver mused. "Please, continue."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. It was then that I got my first glimpse of  
the local politics in that - if you'll pardon the pun,  
sirs - snake pit..."  
  
***  
  
"So, Skeletor, this is the fabled 'Horde' you have told  
us so much about," an amused woman in purple and black  
interupted. "They don't look so very impressive, now, do  
they?"  
  
"Do not try my patience Evil-Lyn," Skeletor snarled.  
  
"The Horde has conquered a thousand worlds," Adora told  
Evil-Lyn coldly.  
  
"So you say," Evil-Lyn replied skeptically. "Even if that  
were true, little girl, how many of those worlds have YOU  
conquered. Oh! That's right, this is your first mission."  
She turned her back to face Skeletor. "Skeletor, you  
really know how to pick them," she mocked.  
  
"Evil-Lyn..." Skeletor began dangerously. He was  
interupted by his guest.  
  
"I am not 'a little girl'," Adora declared. The mission  
seemed beyond recovery, but no way would she let these  
locals besmirch the Horde's name. "I am Lieutenant Adora  
of..."  
  
"Adora?!" Skeletor interupted in surprise, his rage  
instantly evaporating. "You are Adora?"  
  
"Yes..." Adora confirmed, confused by the sudden mood  
shift.  
  
"Little Adora?" Skeletor laughed, bending over to hold  
his hand below knee height for illustration. "My, you've  
grown up! Oh, this is perfect!"  
  
"Skeletor, what are you blathering about?" Evil-Lyn  
asked, equally bewildered. "Who's this Adora supposed to  
be?"  
  
***  
  
"Wait," Sunder interupted. "How did Skeletor know you?"  
  
"I don't know, sir," Adora answered. "Skeletor wouldn't  
say. He was too busy coming up with plans to attack his  
neighbors."  
  
"Did you know about this, Hordak?" Sunder asked his  
superior. "Is this why you insisted on having her lead  
this mission?"  
  
"Let's just say I thought he might be more receptive to  
her than other officers," Hordak said evasively. "Please  
continue, Lieutenant."  
  
"Sir," Adora acknowledged. "In any case, Skeletor came up  
with a plan involving kidnapping the local crown prince.  
I should have realized something was wrong when he didn't  
provide so much as a guide - just a map - but I assumed  
he was only testing our mettle. And since this was a  
prince, I thought it a prime opportunity to get some  
intelligence unbiased by our ally's politics.  
  
"So, we set a trap..."  
  
***  
  
"Help! Oh, help! Will somebody, please save me?" Adora  
called out from the trees in a stilted, unconvincing  
voice. At least, it sounded that way to her own ears. On  
the other hand, the prince and his companions seemed to  
have fallen for it. They had set their personal air  
vehicles down in a nearby clearing and were cautiously  
approaching.  
  
Adora studied them. The prince - Adam she thought  
Skeletor said his name was - was a handsome man boy about  
her age with blond hair. In fact, he looked alot like  
Adora except for the hideous lavender and purple outfit  
that Adora supposed passed for stylish among the locals.  
Even though his motions were lackadaisical, his eyes  
scanned the jungle purposefully.  
  
That certainly wasn't true of his first companion. A  
green and yellow feline followed in the Prince's wake.  
Although it was built like a predator, the cat was acting  
so skittish that Adora immediately dismissed it as any  
kind of credible threat.  
  
Not so for Adam's other companion. Bodyguard? Girlfriend?  
Whatever she was, that girl was most definitely a warrior  
of some kind. Her every movement practically screamed  
"dangerous".  
  
"Hello?" Adam called. "Somebody call for help?"  
  
"Over here!" Adora called, stepping partially into view  
so they could see her. They headed in her direction.  
  
"I don't like this, Adam," the warrior girl muttered as  
they neared. "This could be a trap."  
  
"Aw, you worry too much, Teela," Adam replied lightly.  
"It's just a damsel in distress." He turned to Adora. "So  
what's wrong?"  
  
"Well, actually," Adora began, drawing her sword from its  
hiding spot in a nearby bush and smoothly bringing the  
point to Adam's neck. "It is a trap."  
  
Before Adora could continue, her sword was swept safely  
aside by Teela's staff in an instant. Adora quickly  
leaned back, her head barely avoiding the followup stroke  
from the other end of Teela's staff. As she did so, Adora  
lashed out with a foot, impacting with far less force  
than it should have as Teela leapt back.  
  
The two young women drew apart, staring each other down  
in combat ready stances with weapons at the ready.  
  
"Teela, I'll, um, go call for help," Adam said, backing  
away from them. The big cat cowered behind him.  
  
"Yeah, you do that," Teela replied disgustedly, her gaze  
not wavering from Adora's.  
  
Adora took note of the exchange. Some cultures prefered  
to hustle their leaders to safety while the bodyquards  
fought in their defense. From Teela's reaction, that  
wasn't the case here. So, Prince Adam was a coward? That  
was a useful bit of intel right there.  
  
All thoughts of the cowardly prince were literally swept  
aside in a sudden exchange of blows. Slash. Dodge. Kick.  
Leap. Thrust. Parry. Finally, Adora's sword locked on the  
snakehead on Teela's staff.  
  
"You're good," Adora grunted in complement.  
  
"Correction," Teela grunted in reply, a smirk creeping  
onto her face. "I'm better." With a heave, she swept the  
free end of her staff under Adora's legs, flipping her  
onto her back. Adora suddenly found herself staring at  
the sharp point of the staff's tail end. "Now, who are  
you?" Teela demanded.  
  
Adora began laughing.  
  
"What are you...?" Teela began.  
  
"Uh, Teela?" came Adam's voice. "Help?"  
  
Startled, Teela's head turned from her opponent to catch  
a glimpse of Adam surrounded by at least two dozen gray  
armored figures. They all had guns pointed at the prince  
at essentially point blank range.  
  
And it was only a glimpse, because Adora took the  
opportunity of Teela's distraction to knock the staff  
aside, trip her forward, and have her fist rise up to  
meet Teela's descending head.  
  
Knocking anyone out had never been so satisfying.  
  
***  
  
"So, you managed to capture the Prince and his two  
companions," Hordak observed. "Through treachery no  
less."  
  
"Sir, it was a well executed plan," Adora said stiffly.  
  
"Oh, I'm not saying I disapprove," Hordak chuckled.  
"Quite the opposite actually. You were always such a  
straight arrow, I never would have thought you had it in  
you."  
  
"Sir? It was a well executed plan," Adora repeated, a  
note of confusion in her voice.  
  
"Yes, yes," Hordak said dismissively. "So what went  
wrong?"  
  
"It seems that Skeletor failed to mention a few details  
in his plans to us..."  
  
***  
  
"We have the Prince," Adora told Skeletor. "Plus a big  
cat and someone named Teela."  
  
"You do?" The tinnyness of the communicator did nothing  
to mute Skeletor's surprise. "That's...good. Yes, very  
good. Stay right there. I'll send somebody to pick him  
up."  
  
Adora frowned. "Why don't we just bring them to you?" she  
asked. "We'll save you the trip."  
  
"Don't question me!" Skeletor snarled back. He switched  
back to being nice, or what passed for him being nice.  
"I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble, my dear. My  
people will go get him. Skeletor out."  
  
Adora stared at the now dead communicator. "Not put me to  
any trouble?" she muttered. "I'm in the middle of a  
jungle sitting on two prisoners and their pet." The  
longer they remained out here, the better the chances  
that something bad would happen, like stalking predators  
munching on the prisoners.  
  
On the other hand, Skeletor's minions didn't exactly  
strike Adora as workaholics. This could be an excellent  
chance to learn about Eternia without Skeletor filtering  
the information.  
  
Adora walked across the clearing to where the prisoners  
were being held. The first squad of her platoon had them  
covered with their guns even though the prisoners were  
tied up; Adora was taking no chances. The second squad  
was deployed in a defensive perimeter around the  
clearing. The third and final squad was sweeping the  
nearby jungle for any nasty surprises.  
  
"Hey, you! Yeah, you!" Prince Adam called as Adora  
approached. "Who are you? You work for Skeletor don't  
you? What's he want this time?"  
  
"You're quite the loudmouth, aren't you?" Adora returned.  
She sat herself on one of the air vehicles the Prince and  
his friends had arrived in. It was also serving double  
duty as a table. "Let me tell you something, Princey. You  
are my prisoner. As such, I don't have to answer any of  
your questions. For you though, it's another story."  
  
"I don't have to tell you anything," Adam said firmly.  
  
"Well, in that case," Adora said slyly, "we can just go  
straight to the part where we inflict alot of pain, maybe  
some dismemberment, y'know, the standard deal."  
  
"I still won't tell you anything," Adam said resolutely.  
There was a flicker in his eye, but there wasn't a hint  
of fear in his voice.  
  
Adora's eyes rose in surprise. There was a surprising  
amount of backbone in this prince. That didn't fit the  
image of a fleeing coward she saw earlier. She might  
actually have to resort to torture, something she found  
extremely... distasteful.  
  
"You've got quite a mouth for a guy who ran away from a  
fight," Adora muttered. Adam opened his mouth to say  
something, but shut himself up. It wasn't from fear, it  
looked like Adam was making himself not say anything. Was  
there something he was hiding? "And left his girlfriend  
in a lurch," she added. Yes, definitely something there.  
  
As if on cue, Teela chose that moment to come to. "Ooh,"  
she moaned. "Adam, what..." Teela trailed off as she  
spotted Adora. Then she squeezed her eyes shut, looked at  
Adora again, saw Adam, switched back to Adora, then Adam,  
Adora, Adam, Adora... "I must be having a nightmare" she  
muttered finally.  
  
"Oh, good, you're awake!" Adora said, trying to force  
herself to sound like she was going to relish what came  
next. She picked up one of the captured weapons, the  
prince's sword. "Nice weapon by the way," she told him,  
admiring the odd, stretched pentagonal design. "Pity it's  
wasted on a coward."  
  
Adam gritted his teeth furiously, but didn't say anything  
again. What was he hiding?  
  
Adora waved the point of Adam's sword in front of his  
face. "I guess we'll just have to get started, won't we?"  
she sighed dramatically. She hoped she wasn't overdoing  
this.  
  
Adam looked at his sword, calculation and not fear  
evident in his eyes. Then he glanced at Teela, also  
measuring. He turned back to Adora and puffed himself up  
as best he could while tied up. "Do your worst," he told  
her.  
  
"Adam! What are you doing?" Teela exclaimed.  
  
"Trust me on this one," Adam hissed back.  
  
Adora's face went completely slack in surprise. This...  
this idiot prince actually wanted her to start cutting  
into him!  
  
***  
  
"The Eternian Prince is a sado-masochist?" Sunder  
exclaimed in surprise.  
  
"I have no other explanation, sir," Adora replied.  
  
"I like him already," Shadow Weaver said sarcastically.  
She sounded bored. "Continue."  
  
***  
  
"Excuse me, but you do realize that this is going to hurt  
alot, right?" Adora asked Adam, jumping off the air  
vehicle so that she could prod him with his own sword.  
"As in this'll be painful. Can you say pain-ful?" she  
continued, as if speaking to an especially dull child.  
  
"By...the...power...of..." Adam stammered a each word for  
every time she poked him.  
  
"What was that? What were you saying?" Adora demanded,  
letting the sword drop away from Adam in frustration at  
whatever gibberish he was spouting.  
  
"...Greyskull?" Adam squeaked out finally. He paused as  
if waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he  
deflated slightly and mumbled, "I have the power."  
  
"What? You have what power? Are you crazy?" Adora turned  
to Teela. "Is he crazy?"  
  
A thoughtful look stole over Teela's face. "That would  
explain alot..."  
  
"Teela!" Adam protested indignantly.  
  
"You know what? Skeletor can have you lunatics," Adora  
told them. "I'll find someone sane that I can  
interrogate." She turned away, tossed the sword back onto  
the air vehicle disgustedly, and muttered, "'By the power  
of Greyskull' indeed."  
  
"Hey, won't you at least tell us your name?" Adam called  
at her back.  
  
"No!" Adora replied over her shoulder as she composed  
herself. A blinking light in the air vehicle caught her  
eye. "Sergeant!"  
  
One of the gray armored soldiers appeared at her side.  
"Ma'am?"  
  
"Why is that blinking?" Adora growled, pointing at the  
offending light.  
  
"I don't know, ma'am," the sergeant replied. "It wasn't  
there before."  
  
Adora suddenly felt dread ice up her spine. Peering  
closer at the light, she saw that it was labeled  
"Emergency Distress Beacon".  
  
***  
  
"And just how was the beacon activated?" Hordak inquired  
pointedly.  
  
"At the time, sir, I didn't know, and I had no time to  
figure it out," Adora replied. "I was much too busy."  
  
***  
  
"Sergeant! Inform everyone that we are bugging out! Now!"  
Adora snapped.  
  
"Ma'am!" the sergeant acknowledged as he began relaying  
the order.  
  
It was too late. A giant humanoid insect and another air  
vehicle dove out of the sky, strafing their position.  
They didn't actually hit anything, but they did distract  
everyone from the surrounding jungle. Chaos erupted from  
all sides as a colorful collection of warriors emerged to  
do battle.  
  
Then Adora became distracted, forced to concentrate on  
her little slice of the action. A series of laser blasts  
took out most of the soldiers guarding the prisoners. A  
truly huge man charged out of the jungle and practically  
trampled the rest. He almost trampled Adora, too, except  
that she dodged aside at the last moment and extended a  
leg. The enemy warrior went sprawling.  
  
Adora whipped out her sword in time to deflect a laser  
blast from a second attacker, snapping the sword in half.  
This one wore some kind of bulky orange armor. Furious at  
the loss of her weapon, Adora attacked.  
  
It quickly became apparent that this man was far more  
skilled than she was. In the flurry of exchanged blows,  
he actually managed to catch one wrist, then the other,  
in his hands.  
  
"And now, young lady," the man said in a most annoyingly  
patronizing way. "You will explain why you...you..." The  
man took a good look at her face and his eyes widened in  
shocked surprise. "You!"  
  
It was only a momentary lapse; his surprise loosened his  
hold. Adora took full advantage. Her forehead hit her  
opponent's unarmored face, and they reeled away from each  
other. Adora recovered first and a round house kick sent  
the armored man sprawling to the ground.  
  
"Father!" someone cried.  
  
Adora shook her head clear and looked to see how the  
battle at large was going. It was bad. The Eternian  
warriors were making short work of her soldiers. There  
was only one thing to be done.  
  
"Hordesmen!" Adora shouted at the top of her lungs. "Fall  
back to rendezvous point!" Hopefully, they heard her and  
be able to extract themselves. She couldn't extract one  
of the prisoners herself and get away. So there was  
nothing more that she could do except for one thing.  
  
Adora turned and sprinted into the jungle.  
  
***  
  
"You ran away." Hordak's tone was part accusing.  
  
"Yes, sir," Adora replied, making no attempt at denial.  
"I met up with the remainder of my platoon at the  
rendezvous point. Most of them were from the squad I had  
sent out to sweep the jungle. On the way, I formed a  
tentative theory as to how we were found out so quickly."  
  
"Oh? Please elaborate," Hordak invited.  
  
"Skeletor set us up, sir," Adora told them. "We were just  
a diversion to draw the Eternian defenders away from  
Skeletor's true target: Castle Greyskull."  
  
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Sunder inquired.  
  
"When the Eternians made no move to pursue us, I lingered  
in the area, sir," Adora explained. "I overheard them  
recieve a call for help from Greyskull and that  
Skeletor's forces were attacking it. That was when I  
concluded what really happened.  
  
"I also guessed that one of Skeletor's agents had been  
with us all along under a cloak of invisibility," Adora  
continued. "This agent activated the distress beacon that  
brought the Eternians down on us.  
  
"Once I learned this, I rendezvoused with the remainder  
of my platoon. It was my conclusion that Skeletor was  
much too untrustworthy to be an ally of the Horde. That  
mission objective was for all intents and purposes a lost  
cause."  
  
"According to your report, that was when you sent your  
troops back to Etheria," Sunder said thoughtfully  
consulting his notes.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"So, why did you remain behind?" Hordak prompted.  
  
"My mission objective of alliance was a failure," Adora  
replied. "But there was still my other mission objective:  
gathering intelligence. The soldiers would have been more  
hindrance than help in this case. I intended to observe  
from stealth how Skelitor's and Eternian warriors fought,  
what tactics they used, and aquire a more detatched and  
objective assessment of their abilities."  
  
For the first time during the debriefing, a less than  
professional emotion crept into Adora's voice. It came as  
a sort of low growl. "Besides, he owed me a sword."  
  
***  
  
The battle between the locals had actually penetrated  
GreySkull's walls. Several combatants from both sides had  
retired from the field and gone home by the time Adora  
arrived. There was no one outside, but definite sounds of  
a battle raging inside. From what Adora could hear, there  
weren't many combatants left, but at least one was  
Skeletor.  
  
Adora strolled unchallenged through the castle's front  
gate.  
  
The castle interior was a mess. Given that a battle had  
just passed through here, Adora supposed it was only to  
be expected. Still, there was no one in sight. There were  
no bodies in sight either. As inexperienced in real  
combat as she was (a lack this mission was rapidly making  
good), Adora knew that there should have been at least  
some casualties. Didn't this place have any full time  
guards at all?  
  
A glint drew Adora's attention. An untouched display hung  
on a nearby wall. The object being displayed was a sword  
that looked very much like Prince Adam's. It had the same  
stretched, pentagonal design except for the ornamental  
gem in its center.  
  
It was a good thing the sword wasn't booby trapped,  
because Adora completely forgot to check for any. Adora  
took the sword in hand. It felt so natural there, that it  
was like it had been made for her. It also had a superb  
edge. There was a momentary glow of enchantment, but  
nothing seemed to happen.  
  
"Congratulations," a feminine voice said behind Adora.  
  
Startled that anyone could sneak up on her, Adora whirled  
around, bringing her new weapon to bear, ready to defend  
or attack. The woman who had surprised Adora was  
obviously no warrior. She wore a headpiece that resembled  
a bird of prey's head. On her back was a set of wings.  
  
"Who are you?" Adora demanded, grateful for the training  
that kept her voice steady.  
  
"I am the Sorceress of Castle Greyskull, young warrior,"  
the woman replied. She seemed to not be intimidated at  
all by the sword in Adora's hands. In fact, she appeared  
to be down right amused. "I guard the secrets of this  
place from all that would misuse them."  
  
"Yeah?" Adora replied with more bravado than she felt.  
This Sorceress wasn't afraid of Adora, which didn't say  
much for her chances. But maybe Adora could milk some  
information out of the Sorceress. She cocked her head,  
indicating the surrounding mess and the sounds of distant  
battle. "Well, you don't seem to be doing a very good  
job."  
  
"That is why I have allies," the Sorceress replied. "I  
have every confidence in their victory."  
  
As if on cue, Skeletor's voice echoed through the halls.  
"Curse you, He-Man! I'll get you next time!"  
  
"I would suggest you leave this place, young warrior,"  
the Sorceress suggested. "I doubt you would wish to be  
found by the victors. You may keep the sword."  
  
"Hey, I'm not going any..." Adora began.  
  
"I said BEGONE!" The Sorceress' last word was more felt  
than heard. The castle interior vanished, and Adora found  
herself in the middle of the jungle again.  
  
***  
  
"After that, I called for a portal and returned to  
Etheria," Adora concluded, ending her report. "I did not  
think it wise to confront our so-called allies alone  
without consulting higher authority first."  
  
"I have heard rumors of this Castle Greyskull," Shadow  
Weaver mused. "This sword, it is the one at your side?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Adora confirmed.  
  
"Ah, good. Show us."  
  
Without hesitation, Adora unsheathed the sword and set it  
on the table for her superiors to examine, then resumed  
her previous stance.  
  
"Well, Shadow Weaver?" Hordak prompted after a time.  
  
"Yes, definitely enchanted," Shadow Weaver murmured as  
she examined the sword. She looked up at Adora. "Have you  
discovered what powers it holds?"  
  
"Ma'am, there appears to be no other enchantments other  
than those making it a better sword," Adora replied  
crisply. "If there was more, I doubt the Sorceress would  
have let me leave with it."  
  
"Hmm, the sword appears to be a receptacle of power,"  
Shadow Weaver said thoughtfully. "Bah. If there were any  
great magics in this sword, they were removed long ago.  
I believe you are correct, Lieutenant Adora. This is but  
a bauble."  
  
"But a well crafted bauble, nonetheless," Sunder added,  
admiring the sword's workmanship.  
  
"But a bauble nonetheless," Hordak said irritably. "You  
may retrieve your prize, Lieutenant."  
  
Adora did so without a word.  
  
"Lieutenant, what is your evaluation of Eternia's  
military forces?" Sunder asked.  
  
"Sir, my knowledge of Eternian military forces is very  
limited," Adora told him. "I have only limited first hand  
observations and unreliable speculations based on them."  
  
"So speculate," the General commanded.  
  
"Sir, there are no military forces on Eternia," Adora  
declared. "Not any as we know them. Eternia is a feudal  
culture. As such, war is waged by a few champions from  
both sides and heads of state personally lead those  
champions into battle."  
  
"So Eternia is an easy conquest, then?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Adora agreed, "except that those few  
champions could prove troublesome. We can swamp the  
defenders with sheer numbers of troops, and only control  
whatever ground these champions are not standing on."  
  
"You're saying Eternia might be difficult to garrison?"  
Sunder asked archly. "Are you suggesting that the Horde  
might not be ultimately victorious?"  
  
"No, sir," Adora replied. If she was intimidated by her  
superior officer's apparent ire, she didn't show it. "I  
am saying that we must study Eternia extensively before  
committing any forces lest we waste our soldiers for  
nothing. There are simply too many unknowns."  
  
***  
  
"She was...impressive for such a young officer," Sunder  
said thoughtfully after Adora had been dismissed.  
  
"Ha! Didn't I tell you so?" Hordak chided.  
  
"You are biased, Hordak," Shadow Weaver interjected. "She  
is your adopted daughter after all." She turned to  
Sunder. "You might recall that she failed her mission."  
  
"To be fair, we gave her a fairly impossible task to  
begin with, not the milk run we thought we did," Sunder  
retorted. "I know of too many officers her senior who  
wouldn't have done as well. In fact, they wouldn't have  
come back at all. Lieutenant Adora has brains,  
discipline, and initiative, traits that are getting  
harder and harder to find these days among young Horde  
officers."  
  
"And what do you think of her assessment of Eternia?"  
Hordak asked.  
  
"The Lieutenant was right," Sunder replied. "We need to  
learn more first. If anything, there is one piece of  
vital intelligence she brought back with her. It's the  
most valuable thing all by itself."  
  
"What's that?" Shadow Weaver asked suspiciously.  
  
"She's told us how much we don't know," Sunder answered.  
"We need to know more before the conquest of Eternia can  
begin."  
  
"Yes, I wish to know what this Castle Greyskull holds,"  
Shadow Weaver admitted reluctantly.  
  
"Ah, we are agreed then," Hordak mused happily. "There is  
justification not to press charges for failure."  
  
"You mean aside from nepotism?" Sunder asked pointedly.  
  
"Oh, General, you wound me!" Hordak mocked. "So, do you  
have any other observations about the young Adora?"  
  
"Well, I think she could use a little more seasoning  
before being handed another independent command," Sunder  
said thoughtfully. "I'm thinking of assigning her to  
Counter-Insurgency."  
  
"Splendid idea," Hordak agreed. "These Etherians are  
getting uppity again anyway. I imagine she may even make  
Force Captain in a few years..." 


End file.
